Much recent research has tried to show Heaven as being an impersonal force or just the physical heavens themselves. So it is relevant to our thesis to give some of the more common proverbs of China that make it evident they believed Heaven to be a personal God. Such proverbs also make it evident that the knowledge of Heaven or Shang Ti was very widespread among the common people. The proverbs are listed according to the main attributes of Heaven they reveal. Because these proverbs have expressed a truth about the one true God, we can also find scriptures in the Bible that illustrate these same truths. The scriptures are given after the Chinese proverb. The proverbs were found in Clifford H. Plopper, Chinese Religion seen through the Proverb.

a. 萬物本乎天
"All things are derived from Heaven." (John 1:1-3,14)
b. 天生天化
"Heaven produces and Heaven destroys." (Isa. 45:6-7)
c. 四時行焉，百物生焉，天何言哉
"The four seasons pursue their courses, and all things are (continually) being produced, but does heaven say anything?" i.e. Heaven speaks through His creation. Used of one who speaks little, but accomplishes a great deal. (Ps. 19:1-4)

a. 天道難違
"Heaven's way is hard to go against." (Acts 9:5)
b. 順天者昌，逆天者亡
"They who are in accord with Heaven are preserved, and they who rebel against Heaven perish." (Ex. 20:4-7)
c. 天數已定，決不差錯
"When Heaven's calculations have been made manifest, there is never the least mistake." (Deut. 32:3-4)

d. 人不順天心，天不從人願
"If man does not obey the heart of Heaven, Heaven will not fulfill man's desires." (Psalm 37:4)

e. 盡人事而聽天命
"When you have fully done your duty abide the will of Heaven." (Luke 17:10)

a. 有命在天
"All life depends upon Heaven." (Acts 17:24-25)
b. 萬事由天
"Everything is settled by Heaven." (Dan. 4:32-34)

c. 由天不由人
"(Everything) depends on Heaven, and not on man."
(Daniel 4:24-25)

d. 謀事在人，成事在天
"Planning matters pertains to man, completing matters pertains to Heaven." i.e. Man proposes but God disposes.
(Proverbs 16:9)

a. 天是一把秤
"Heaven is a pair of scales." i.e., just. (Dan. 5:21-27) b. 天道無私
"There is nothing partial in the ways of Heaven."
(Acts 10:34) c. 天網恢恢，疏而不漏
"The net of Heaven is so great nothing can escape from it."
(Matt. 13:47-50)

a. 老天不滅大 傻瓜
"Venerable Heaven does not destroy the big fool gourd." i.e. Heaven cares for and nourishes the half-witted and stupid.
(Exodus 4:11; I Cor. 1:27-29)

b. 天有好生之德
"Heaven has the virtue of loving life." (I Pet. 3:9) c. 天養沒眼野雞
"Heaven nourishes the blind pheasants (wild chicken)." i.e. Heaven cares for the maimed. (Mark 3:1-5)

a. 不怨天，不由人
"Neither complain against heaven, nor blame man."
(Numbers 14:28-29) b. 順天應人
"Obey heaven and honor man." Used of anything good one does, which meets with public approval. ( Rom. 13:1-2) c. 樂天知命，故不憂
"If you joy in Heaven and know your fate, you will have no sorrow." i.e., Yield to your fate and be contented.
(Psalm 37:4) d. 仰不愧於天，俯不怍於人
"When looking up, he has no occasion for shame before Heaven, and, below, he has no occasion to blush before men."
(Acts 24:16) a. 弗敬上天， 降災下民
"If you do not worship heaven above, he will send down calamities upon the people." ( Isaiah 66:23-24)

"It became customary in later times for the great men of China to forbid the common people to pray to Heaven. A notable example of this was Hung-Wu, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who issued an edict prohibiting all prayer to Heaven and Earth, except his own, as the height of presumption" ( J. Chalmers, Theology of the Chinese, 10). As we said before, there were good and bad emperors in China just as there were good and bad kings in Israel. Because of such historical facts, some people think that China's faith in the one true God changed with each new dynasty and government and thus China's true faith is not traceable. It is true the details of the worship and ceremony changed from dynasty to dynasty but the basic knowledge of the eternal, sovereign Shang Ti as recorded in China's Classics was always preserved to some degree. Shang Ti's revelation of Himself through every person's conscience, through His creation, and through His control of history was always evident though it was not always properly responded to.
There are many other proverbs on what man's attitude toward Heaven should be. For brevity's sake, we'll leave it up to the reader to research more of these. However, it is very interesting to note that most of these proverbs mention Heaven and people together in a special way. It appears that if a person's relationship with Heaven is right, then their relationship with others will also be right, peaceful, and blessed.

Becoming aware of these attributes of Shang Ti enables us to compare them with the attributes of Jehovah and Jesus as they are revealed in the Bible. If the attributes are the same, we have conclusive proof that we are talking about the same God. Thus when we believe in Jesus we are returning to our true spiritual roots in Shang Ti. Jesus and Shang Ti are not two separate Gods. They are one and the same eternal God who reveals Himself as two co-equal persons. "In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God (Shang Ti), and the Word was God" (John 1:1). "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14).
The two tables that follow list the attributes of Jehovah and Jesus along with the scriptures that tell you where to find them in the Bible. The first table lists their natural attributes. These are attributes that only God alone can have. They separate Him from every false god and idol that people have made up themselves (Isa. 40:18-26). The chart lists the attributes of Jehovah and then gives the same attribute as it is revealed in Jesus Christ thus proving that Jesus is the one true God. It also explains why it is only through Jesus Christ that we can have a personal relationship with Shang Ti. Because "God (Shang Ti) was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them" (2 Cor. 5:19).
Table Two will list the moral attributes of Jehovah God and then document the same divine attributes in Jesus. You and I are responsible before God to manifest these moral attributes in our own lives. The sovereign God commands us to be loving, to be holy, to be faithful and good, to be merciful as well as just. The Judge of all the earth (Ps. 50:6) will hold us accountable for how well we did in living up to His high moral standard.
"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. . . And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
(Rev. 20:11-15)